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Internet Revives Public Libraries
securitas writes "The New York Times' Steve Lohr reports on the effects of the Internet on public libraries, namely that the installation of Internet-connected computers have been largely responsible for a rebirth in public libraries and increasing attendance, particularly by 'teenagers, people age 50 and older and members of ethnic minorities' as well as low-income patrons without computers at home. According to a University of Washington study, 'A year after computers are put in libraries that do not have them, visits rise 30 percent on the average and attendance typically remains higher'. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - which funds PC-based Internet library projects - features prominently in the article, including the criticism that it is 'a Microsoft marketing exercise masquerading as philanthropy.'"
then could someone please explain what the Gates foundation actually does that could be construed as shady?
I think you'll find few complaints about the Gates Foundation, other than possibly charities who wish to receive funding who don't appreciate the stringent requirements to receive funding from the Foundation.
The shady sentiment mentioned in the article is probably confused with Microsoft Corp. "donating" software to schools out of goodwill or as a result of various antitrust trials. Donating $1 Billion of software is a misnomer when the cost of donation is a tiny fraction of the retail value of the items. Air would probably cost more to donate and deliver than a stack of license keys and CDs.
In the case of the Foundation, it is an independent charitable organization that is delivering hardware and software that the organization paid for. True, Bill G. probably got really deep discounts for Windows and Office, and likely discounts for the Dell PCs, but this is much closer to a true donation at retail value than MSFT donating pieces of paper (licenses) to schools which will have to upgrade later.
The Gates Foundation has had a tough time with legitimacy because it came about after Ted Turner basically called Gates out publicly for not donating any of his billions (Turner donated a third of his value, or $1Billion to the UN around 1998). A combination of pressure from Turner, Gates' father, and his wife reportedly caused the foundation to be formed. Gates initially ran the foundation much like Microsoft where he was heavily involved in the operations and ran the foundation in a fairly rigorous manner, so it was questioned in the mainstream press whether he was truly a philanthropist, or was this just another challenge/problem to solve for him. Time and money will eventually solve the image problem, and it already has improved in the last several years.
the point of a library isnt to increase raw attendance, it's to provide access to a large quantity of books that the majority of people could not purchase or conveniently locate on their own.
It is? And here I've been working in public libraries for years under the mistaken assumption that we were here to provide information!
Seriously, though, public libraries provide a lot of reference and information services--not just books. Certainly our books, cds, videos, graphic novels, etc. get a lot of use for both research and entertainment, but so do our people.
I'm employed full-time by a public library to teach computer skills. We have about 50 public computers with internet access and assorted software (word processing, spreadsheet, database, photo editing, scanning, CD burning, etc.) and a staff of 6 people who teach classes and are available to answer computer-related questions. That means finding a tax form online, or giving advice on buying a new computer, or explaining how to get spyware off your computer, or showing people how to get out of some computer jam. We teach classes on everything from the basics (turning a computer on and using the mouse) to the specific (genealogy databases, selling on eBay, or PowerPoint, for example.)
We have about 15,000 people use our computers every month. I've taught 20-year-olds and I've taught 95-year-olds (seriously). Heck, I got to sign an 83-year-old nun up for e-mail and teach her to use it. The kicker? We're a medium-sized public library, and we're doing this even after having our state funding slashed by 50%.
So if you haven't been to your public library recently, you might want to stop in and see what all they offer. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that we're only here for the books.